Kota Kinabalu: Petronas has officially agreed to give the Sabah State Government a 10 per cent stake in the Liquefied Natural Gas Sdn Bhd 9 (LNG 9) in Bintulu, Sarawak.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman (pic) said as announced in the State Assembly sitting in July, Petronas had then in principle agreed to give Sabah a five per cent stake in the LNG operation but said the State Government would push for a 10 per cent stake.

"I am pleased to announce today that Petronas has agreed to give Sabah greater participation by increasing our stake to 10 per cent," he said in a statement, Wednesday.

Musa said the offer was the result of several negotiations between the State Government and Petronas.

He said the State Government was committed to developing Sabah's oil and gas industry, clearly demonstrated by high impact projects such as the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial that also houses, among others, the RM4.5 billion Sabah Ammonia Urea Plant.

"I am confident that through the close cooperation with Petronas, Sabah can expect more exciting developments in the oil and gas industry," he said.

Providing Sabah a bigger stake in the oil and gas industry was among the formula that Petronas had agreed to work on instead of increasing the annual cash payment or royalty from five per cent to 20 per cent.

Musa had said that it was not necessary to table a motion in the State Assembly because the State Government had its own way of doing things in getting more from the oil and gas sector from Petronas.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, during his visit here recently, said Musa had always raised the matter to him whenever they had the chance to meet.

Towards this end, Najib said he had instructed Petronas to look into a formula in order for Sabah to benefit more from the oil and gas sector.

Petronas had explained that it would not be able to increase the five per cent cash payment because it might render the county's oil and gas not viable to investors.